The CRAZIEST Comics Ever Published!

Scott Shaw!

This week's ODDBALL COMIC features a villain who's based on Idi Amin, a rebel African general who was reportedly also a cannibal.

Although cannibalism isn't mentioned in THE BROTHERS, it sure has been a common topic in other comic books. What are some instances of this grisly taboo cropping up in four-color funnybooks?

Marvel's "Wendigo" in the pages of THE INCREDIBLE HULK is the first example that comes to my mind. And then there's that Oddball issue of HOWDY DOODY with African natives boiling Howdy and Dilly Dally in a big stew kettle!

Aloha,

Scott!
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"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro." -- Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

carson · Joined: 05 Apr 2006 Posts: 726

There are lots of these. There was a character called Crime Cannibal in Man Eating Cow (His warning to criminals was: Bad news. I skipped breakfast today), Chaykin's Twilight, numerous Warren horror stories (usually post appocalyptic ones), a bizarre Dr. Who story produced by Marvel where the cannibals ended up eating their own chief, any green lantern story featuring Arkis Chummak, the notorious Banjo Lessons story by Bruce Jones for Eclipse, and probably others

Sijo · Joined: 02 Apr 2006 Posts: 1222 Location: Puerto Rico

Yeah, there were a surprising amount of anthropophagous characters during the Comics Code era. At least most of those did the hideous deed off-panel...

...Unlike these days, where apparently it is OK to show people being eaten even in standard mainstream comics, like when The Shark ate some swimmers in one of the early issues of the new Green Lantern series. OK, so it's an evolved Shark, but did they HAVE to show it swallowing a guy? Yeesh. (And wasn't the whole original concept of The Shark that he fed on human FEAR, not flesh? Oh, but that was in the Silver Age, I guess, not in the Didio Age...)

If it sounds like I'm being unfair, consider this: Vandal Savage has always been one of the greatest DC Comics villains since the 40's. He's immortal, over 30,000 years old, an ex-ruler of empires who knows both ancient magic and advanced technology, plus had the whole "Slick Villain" routine down pat. Honestly, he's the closest thing to Dr. Doom that DC has.

So why, oh WHY has he recently been reinterpreted AS A CANNIBAL? He just ate his own clone (in his one-shot special) to keep himself alive, and in Secret Six, FORCED some villains to eat Solomon Grundy! What, did somebody go, "Mmm, he's not cool enough, let's make him sick and twisted even if it makes no sense?"

My decision of not buying any more DC Comics until Didio quits, sadly, continues to be a correct one... Crying or Very sad

Jeff O · Posted: Wed Oct 04, 2006 10:06 am Post subject:

I had read at CBR that the Ultimate line's Hulk was a cannibal, and that's one of the reasons I haven't been in a hurry to pick up an issue of THE ULTIMATES.

From Wikipedia:

Mike_Kuypers · Joined: 01 Apr 2006 Posts: 744 Location: Michigan

diddymuck · Joined: 02 Apr 2006 Posts: 573

The half human/half whatever hero The Tarantula from the 80's Atlas series captured bad guys in order to consume them.

Technically Dracula is a cannibal in that he lives on human body parts.

Marvel's the Zombie had to eat a minimal amout of flesh to prevent decomposition; its left to the readers if the meat came from lower animals or other sources.

Jeff O · Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 6:03 pm Post subject:

On the cover of BUGS BUNNY (Dell) No. 31, Porky Pig and Bugs Bunny are in a rocket ship in space, in close proximity to Earth. Porky is driving. Bugs has opened the domed hatch and is cooking bacon and eggs via the rocket's flame in back. Bugs's tongue is out of his mouth, to show he is looking forward to eating the breakfast.

Porky is looking back over his own shoulder, at Bugs and the heating skillet. Porky has a big smile on his face. Unless this is intended as soy bacon, unlikely for 1953, it looks like Porky Pig is happily about to eat meat from a pig!

I don't have the issue, so I didn't know if the scene takes place inside the book, and if Porky actually is shown eating bacon. Comics.org says the "Front Cover relates (somewhat) to Sequence 2" of the comic.

Jeff O · Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2006 1:30 pm Post subject: Howdy Doody at Oddball Comics

RobAllen · Joined: 07 Apr 2006 Posts: 311

[Warning: gross gory content]

The recently-published book about Greg Irons includes several complete stories from horror undergrounds (Skull, Slow Death, and similar ones). One of them is about an encounter between two lone soldiers in the midst of a war between men and women.

They fight; the woman wins, and proceeds to remove part of his body (guess which part), fry it up in a skillet and eat it in front of him before he dies.

The same book includes the legendary "Legion of Charlies" story, in which a group of Vietnam vets, led by Lt. Calley of My Lai fame, become disciples of Charles Manson and go on a murder spree that includes killing and eating Spiro Agnew on live national television. And that isn't even the climax of the story.

I also recall an EC story in which the protagonist thinks his host is a vampire - he discovers a body in the basement being drained of blood. In the last panel, the host explains, "Oh no, I'm not interested in the blood; the body isn't ready until the icky blood is all gone. You see, I'm a ghoul."

Those are the first to come to mind.